Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-04-15
darkness; but once in the ark, all is veil:

"God shut him in"
There comes upon the good man q de-
LUCE of financial trouble. He had his
thousands to lend; now he cannot borrow q
dollar. He once owned q store in New
York. and had branch houses in Boston,
Philadelphia, and New Orleans. He owned
four horses, and employed a man to keep
the dust OFT his coach. phaeton, carriage,
and c%urricle; now he has hard, work to get
shoes in wlichto walk. The great deep of
commercial disaster was broken up, and
fore and aft, and across the hurricane
deck, the waves struck him. But he was
safely sheltered from the storm. 1.-THE
Lord shut him in" A flood of domestic
troubles fell on him. Sickness and be-
reavement came. The rain pelted. The
winds blew. The heavens are aflame. All
the gardens of earthly delight are washed
away. The fountains of Joy are buried
fifteen cubits deep. But. standing by the
empty crib. and iii the desolated nursery,
and i'll the doleful hall, once airing with
merry voices, now silent forever, he cried:
"The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord"
"The Lord shut him H." All the sins Of
a lifetime clamored for his overthrow. The
broken VOWS, the dishonored Sabbaths, the
outrageous profnnities, the misdemeanors
of twenty years, reached up their hands to
the door OF the ark to pull him out. The
boundless ocean of his sin surrounded his
soul, bowling like q simeon, raving like an
euroclydon. But. looking out of the vim
dow. he saw his sins sink like lead into
the depths of the sea. The dove of Heaven
bought an olive branch to the ark. The
wrath OF the billow only pushed him toward
Heaven. 1.-The Lord shut him in"
The same door f~as,enings that kept
Noah in keep the world out. l nm glad to
know that when n man reaches Heaven oil
earthly troubles are done with him. Here
he lnny have had it hard to get bread for
his family: there he will never hunger any
more. Here he may have wept bitterly;
there "the lamb that is in the midst of
the throne will lead him to living fountains
OF wa,el, and God will wipe away all tears
from lns eyes," Here he may have hard
work TO get a house; but in my Fathers
house are many mansions, and rent day
never comes. Here there are death-beds,
and collins, and graves; there no sickness,
no weary watching, nc choking cough, no
consuming fever, no chattering chill, no
tolling bell, no grave. The sorrows of life
shall come up and knock at the door, but
10 Mmittance. The perplexities of life
shall come up and knock on the door. but
no admittance. Safe forever! All the
agony OF earth i'll one wave dashing against
the bulwarks of the ship of celestial light
shall not break them down. Howl on, We
winds, and rage, ye seas! The Lord shut
him ill.,"
oh, what Il grand old door! SO wide, so
easily swung both ways, and with such
pick that lock. No swarthy arm of hell
can shove back the bolt. 1 rejoice hat I
do not ask you to come aboard a crazy
craft with leaking hulk, and broken helm,
and unfastcned door; but an ark fifty
cubits wide and 800 cubits long, and a door
so large that the round earth, without
grazing the posts, might be bowled in.
Now. if the ark of Christ is so grand q
place in which TO live. and die, and tri-
umph, come into the ark. Know we'll that
the door that shut Noah in shut the worlt
out; and though, when the pitiless storm
, came pe'tins on their heads, they bea
upon the door, saying: "Let me in! lei
me in.." the door did not open. For 12t
3 years they were invited. They expected tt
9 come in; but the antedi!uvian said: "W,
must cultivate these fields, we must b.
worth more tiocks of sheep and herds o
cattle; We will wait until we get q littl'
older; we will enjoy our old farm a it'll
e longer" But meanwhile the storm wa
brewing. The fountains of heaven wer
0 filling mp. The pry was being placed be
o meath the foundations of the great deeE
| The last year had come, the last month
| the last week, the last day, the last hour
/ the last moment. In m awful dash. NJ
from beneath. and God rolled the eartl
t and sky into one wave of universal de
struction.
!! SO men now put off going into the ark
They say they will wait twenty years first
6 They will have little longer time will
their worldly associates. They will wal
. until they get older. They say you canno
: expect Il man of my attainments and of IN,
: position to surrender myself just now
But before the storm comes | will 90 in
Yes, l will. 1 know what I I'M about
Trust me, After a while, one night abou
Z ~ o'clock, going home, he passes
a plank falls. Dead! and outside the ark
: Or, riding in the park. a reckless vehicle
crashes into him, and his horse becomes
} ~unmanageable, and he shouts: "Whoa
y Whoa!" and takes another twist in tn
/ reins and plants his feet against the dash
! board. and pulls back. But no use. 1t il
not SO much down the avenue that he file
r as OH the way to eternity. Out Of tn,
D wreck of the crash his body is drawn, bu
his soul is not picked up. It fled behind
t swifter courser into the great future. Dead
ana OUTSIDE the ark! Or SOme u1BuC ~
/ wakes up with a distress that momentarily
2 increases, until he shrieks out with pain
The doctors come in and they give hin
/: twenty drops. but no relief; forty drops
F, fifty drops, sixty drops, but no relief. n.
, time for prayer. No time to read one of the
| promises. Notime to get o single sin par
doned. The whole house is aroused in alarm
The children scream; the wife faints; tn
pulses fall; the heart stops; the soul flies
oh, my God! dead, and outside the ark!
, I have no doubt that derision kept man.
people out of the ark. The world laughed
2 to see&n man go in and said: "Here is
3 man starting for the ark. Why, there will
t be no deluge. If there is one that miser
: able ship will not weather it. Aha! goinl
, into the ark! Well, that is too good t.
r keep. Here, fellows, have you heard thu
. news? This man is going into the ark.
!, Under this artillery of scorn the man.
. good resolution persisted.
: And SO there are hundreds kept out b,
J; the fear of derision. The young man ask
3 himself: "What would they soy at til,
store tomorrow morning if I should be
i come a Christian? When I go down to tn
club house they would shout: Here come,
the new Christian. SUI pose you will no
have ANYTHING to do with us now. Sup
I; pose YOU are praying now. Get down OF